Super Bowl breakfast ceremony highlights more than football

A 30-year Super Bowl tradition continued Saturday morning in Minneapolis when the NFL honored a player for his public service.

At the NFL's Super Bowl breakfast, Baltimore Ravens tight end, Benjamin Watson, received The Athletes in Action Bart Starr Award. Starr played for the Green Bay Packers from 1956 to 1971 and went on to coach the team later in his career.

The award named for him is meant to commend a NFL player who shows character and leadership on and off the field. Fellow NFL players choose the recipient each year.

This year's winner, Benjamin Watson told a packed ballroom inside the Minneapolis Hilton that he is most inspired by the idea of leaving a legacy.

"Think about what you're standing for," Watson said. "Think about when you leave this place what people will say about you, but more importantly, what the people you have touched will be equipped to do because of you."

Watson runs One More, a foundation focused on poverty and religion. He has spent 14 seasons in the NFL and won a Super Bowl with the Patriots.

Former Vikings Jeff Siemon, Alan Page, Greg Coleman, and Chuck Foreman and other football greats from the past and present were part of the ceremony.

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The Bart Starr Award, given each year to the NFL player who "best exemplifies outstanding character and leadership in the home, on the field, and in the community," sits on the stage at the Super Bowl Breakfast. The award was presented to Benjamin Watson of the Baltimore Ravens at the breakfast, held in Minneapolis on Saturday, Feb. 3, 2018.Chris Juhn for MPR NewsView full gallerySuper Bowl Breakfast attendees hold their phones in the air after they were told to put their phones in the air to to help get guests to rate the experience at the breakfast. Saturday, Feb. 3, 2018.Chris Juhn for MPR NewsTony Dungy, former coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Indianapolis Colts, speaks onstage at the Super Bowl Breakfast in Minneapolis on Saturday, Feb. 3, 2018, before Benjamin Watson received the Bart Starr Award.Chris Juhn for MPR NewsProtesters of CTUL greet Super Bowl Breakfast guests as they enter the Hilton in Minneapolis. They were protesting mainly unfair wages.Chris Juhn for MPR News